Three weeks in New Zealand - 4/12 - 5/4/2024

Day 2-A day in Auckland-4/13/2024

Dinner at Ada

Tonight we are dining at Ada restaurant located inside The Convent hotel. The Spanish mission-style building was built in 1922 and was home to St Joseph’s Convent until 1993.  In recent years the building fell into disrepair, until being purchased by developer Andy Davies, who has lovingly restored the building and is transforming it into a beautiful hotel aptly named the Convent.

We did not realized that the restaurant was located inside the hotel so we looked for it and could not find it.

And then we saw a small sign next to the Hotel's name.

The entrance is beautifully renovated and kept it charm.

Once inside we were a bit shocked to see a long corridor with modern painting and an arrangement of crucifixes on the wall.  It really felt like we are going to church but with strange decorations.

Bar next to the restaurant.  People can stopped here for a cocktail if their table is not ready yet.

Entrance of the restaurant.

Once you step inside the whole restaurant is very airy with vaulted ceiling above the dinning area.  This area was formerly familiar to the Nuns as the cloisters, but now it is a beautiful dinning room

We were seated at the counter which is perfect for us.

View of the dinning room from our seats.

The main dinning room is very cozy and the walls are left untouched and it has its charm.

The counter with a view of the chef in the kitchen at the end.

The restaurant was full and we were glad we were able to reserve 2 seats for us.

Above the counter the ceiling is so high with a beautiful floral arrangement hanging from the ceiling.

Te Maluku Oysters with mignonette sauce.

Te Maluku Bay Oysters is a well established Oyster farm situated in the crystal clear waters of the Te Matuky Bay Marine reserve.

The oysters are known to be creamy, plum and tastiest Pacific oysters.

Head chef Kia Kanata began his culinary career as many do, as a dishwasher and 20 years later he's been named Auckland's Most Outstanding Chef at the 2024 Lewis ham Awards. 

At Ada he is using traditional Māori cooking methods has seen the implementation of a stove top hang into the kitchen which is a process where steam is used as a medium of cooking the food while it is beneath the ground. The response from food critics has been overwhelmingly positive with the menu described as a celebration of Aotearoa and the connection between people, food and the land.

We are starting the meal with 3 dishes

Ika Mat, cured market fish, salted cucumber, coconut, crispy nori

Ika Mat means Raw fish in Maori here is cured and is combined with a tasty coconut sauce, crispy and salted cucumber and topped with a crispy nori.  Very unusual dish but the flavors are delicious and all the textures on this dish is really delicious.

Rewana fried bread with braised bacon hock, watercress, buffalo curd

Rewana fried bread is a type of sourdough from New Zealand and topped with delicious braise bacon hock, watercress, buffalo curd.  So satisfying and so delicious.

Cured & smoked duck breast pihi, hangi cabbage, black garlic, kumara textures.

Everything on this dish was yummy and super tasty.

Cheers to great meal!

Hangi pork belly, potato mousse, crispy onions, cured egg yolk, chive oil, peas shoots.

Another amazing dish!  The pork was amazing and they just melted in our mouth.  The sauce was creamy, tasty and was perfect with the pork.

Soft shell crab, tomato linguini, Koura bisque, confit cherry tomatoes, shrimp rehu

The soft shell crab was fried and was super crispy.  The pasta was so delicious too.  Overall, an excellent dish.

For dessert we ordered the Puhukawa steamed pudding, sour blackberry gel, golden syrup empuma shortbread.

Chef Kia Kanata with a traditional Maori face tattoo which is an important custom that is still in practice today.

The tongue sticking out and the hand gesture is an exaggerated facial expression characteristic of the Haka which is a Maori dance.

Kia Kanata in the kitchen

Very weird pictures hanging in the hallway of the hotel.

Art works in the hallway of the hotel.

Bathroom for ladies with a picture of a Nun and for the men, it is a picture of a pope sitting on an armchair.

Overall, we had an excellent meal, very good vibe, great food, and excellent service.

NEXT... Hobbinton Movie set